Lower Columbia Walleye Club, Inc. July 2017 Volume 24.8 Advanced Planning Pays Off Part1 By Stan Fagerstrom There wasn t another angler in sight at the area of the river I wanted to fish. I was about to find out why. I didn t surprise me that I was one of the first to get this particular spot when I had a chance to get there. But darn near always I could see someone else coming not far behind. This trip I had it all to myself. The answer was obvious when I finally got to the drift I wanted to fish. The surface of the river from the shore to about two feet on out was covered with a thin sheet of ice. I had to actually break the ice as I waded out to cast. I hadn t paid any attention to the weather forecast before I went to bed and it wouldn t have made any difference if I had. In those days I went fishing whenever had had a chance and to heck with weather conditions. Winter weather in Southwest Wash- I shot this picture of Mount St. Helens from our home west of the mountain when she blew her top back in 1980. Among other things, the eruption destroyed the excellent steelhead fishing I had enjoyed on the Toutle River before the eruption. The Toutle had its beginning from Spirt Lake right at the base of St. Helens. ington where I was fishing at the time generally wasn t all that bad but at times it could be just plain nasty. That s how it was on the morning I m talking about. When I walked out of my door it was obviously cold enough to put ice in your whiskers. I went back in an added some of the garments I knew would help when I got to the river. June 1, 2017 More About Stan Stan s Archives Advanced Planning Pays Off The river I reached that morning was the Toutle. You won t find conditions on the Toutle today anywhere near what they were back then. The beautiful old Toutle, you see, has its beginning in Spirit Lake, the lake that is located right at base of Mt. St. Helens. From Spirit Lake the Toutle flows on down through the foothills of the Cascades west of the mountain to eventually dump into the Cowlitz River, a major tributary of the lower Colum- 1
bia River where it divides the states of Oregon and Washington. Older readers of this column are a cinch to remember what happened to the Toutle and Spirit Lake when Mt. St. Helens blew her top on May 18, 1980. In fact, my wife and I weren t all that that far away when the mountain exploded. Thank heavens we were living due west of the mountain. Our home was I shot this picture of Mount St. Helens from our home west of the mountain when she blew her top back in 1980. Among other things, the eruption destroyed the excellent steelhead fishing I had enjoyed on the Toutle River before the eruption. The Toutle had its beginning from Spirt Lake right at the base of St. Helens. probably about 50 miles as the crow flies west of the explosion. We had to evacuate twice but didn t wind up suffering any major damage. Had we been located as close we were but to the north or east of the mountain instead of west we probably would have been goners. How I loved that beautiful Toutle River before Mt. St. Helens exploded! I learned much of what I like to think I know about winter steelhead fishing on her waters. What she taught me I ve been blessed to use on to one degree or another on fishing adventures from the Amazon to Alaska and Argentina to Brazil and a whole lot of spots in between. The morning I ve been writing about was one I experienced several years before the mountain blew. I m sharing the details especially for newcomers who might be about to experience the same kind of weather I ve been talking about for the first time their own fishing. I m not about to tell you I have all the answers about dealing with the kind of weather I detailed earlier. I don t, you don t and neither does the bare faced liar who says he does. I do have 2 This picture shows why I put so much emphasis on advance planning for wintertime fishing. Here I m having to break the ice to get out where I want to do my casting. two words that come close to summing up what you can do. Those two words are Advance Preparation. I had the extreme good fortune to make friends with a part time guide in some of my early fishing times in the Pacific Northwest. This guy invited me to go steelhead fishing with him. I ve never forgotten the emphasis he placed on my doing what I could to prepare for the curves that the weatherman might throw at us. And he didn t beat around the bushes in doing so. He knew I was a first class greenhorn where winter steelhead fishing was concerned. He also knew darn well if he didn t educate me a bit I could wind up being a pain in the rear instead of being fun to have along. It s easy to recall one of the first things he told me. Stan, he said, I ll be glad to take you along but you need to know what you re getting into. It can be colder than old billy out there this time of year and that applies whether we re talking about either air or water temperature. My gosh, believe it or not I had to bust ice along the shoreline a couple of times last December to get far enough out from shore to fish a couple of sports properly. And he didn t beat around the bushes in doing so. He knew I was a first class greenhorn where winter steelhead fishing was concerned. He also knew darn well if he didn t educate me a bit I could wind up being a pain in the rear instead of being fun to have along. It s easy to recall one of the first things he told me. Stan, he said, I ll be glad to take you along but you need to know what you re getting into. It can be colder than old billy out there this time of year and that applies whether we re talking about either air or water temperature. My gosh, believe it or
not I had to bust ice along the shoreline a couple of times last December to get far enough out from shore to fish a couple of sports properly. This experienced friend was right. One of the primary considerations, and this so darned important, is the preparation you can do in advance. That old business about the future belonging to the guy who prepares for it really applies where winter steelhead fishing is concerned. You ll find a couple of items right here at Mack Lure that have turned out to be a tremendous help to the angler who has to deal with the kind of weather I ve been writing about. For that matter, you ll find they can also great service to you as whatever the weather and wherever you fishing. Steve Fleming, one of the West s best guides, always urges his clients to be prepared for the weather when he has them out on the John Day River. One of his clients shows the results of Steve s advice. These dandy tools weren t around back in my early days of fishing the Toutle. I m talking about Pip s Leader Dispensers. Stick with me because in my next couple of columns I ll be sharing why I feel as I do about them. -To Be Continued Advance preparation was one of the main reasons I was able to get this Toutle River steelhead within reach. What are some of the tools that can help you ease the problems with cold weather angling? You re looking at a dandy. It s a Pip s Leader Caddy. You can pre-tie all the rigs you re like to use for winter steelheading. There s no need to fool around working with half frozen fingers. 3
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JULY 4 Independence Day 5 Board Meeting- Wednesday 6 General meeting Larry Hutchcens,Lowrance 8-9 Fishout Multnomash Channel AUGUST 1 Board Meeting 3 General meeting Stacy Kalsey, WDFW 5-6 Fishout & picnic at Camas, Wa. SEPTEMBER 4 Labor Day 5Board meeting 7 General meeting 9-10 Fishout at Camas, Wa. OCTOBER 3 Board meeting 5 General meeting 7-8 Fishout at Camas 9 Columbus Day 14-15 Tom Schindlbeck Memorial fishout at Boardman 31 Board meeting NOVEMBER 2 General meeting 5 Daylight Savings Time Ends. 11 Veterans Day 23 Thanksgiving 28 Board meeting DECEMBER 2 General meeting Christmas party 25 Christmas Day 2017 Lonnie Handsakrt 14.00Pounds Dan Tuinstra 11.94 Pounds Rich Ribar 11.00 Pounds Cal Burkhardsmeier 9.20 Pounds Nicole Murahashi 8.88 Pounds John Murahashi 8.50 Pounds Frank Bryan 7.25 Pounds Wyatt Hoffart 7.25 Pounds Todd Siler 7.25 POunds Lyle Amundson 6.75 Pounds Louise Moudy 6.70 Pounds Caroline Handsaker 6.25 Pounds Chris Schacht 6.00 Pounds Don Adamson 6.00 Pounds Sherry Redman 6.00 pounds left: SherryRedman with a nice 6.00 pound walleye 5
President Lyle Amundson (503) 625-6296 twondcomets@yahoo.com Vice President Kevin Hollingsworth (503) 201-3954 kevin.jay@comcast.net Secretary Lonnie Handsaker (360) 571-0422 lonniehandsaker@msn.com Treasurer Jim Gurtisen (503) 492-2338 tvc@easystreet.net Editor Larry McClintock (503) 257-0553 lwmcclintock@comcast.net Membership Chairman Louise Moudy (503) 658-2097 gnlmoudy@live.com Web Master Jim Gurtisen (503) 492-2338 tvc@easystreet.net Activities Committee Jerry Haase - Chairman (503) 467-6995 jhassejr@gmail.com Lonnie & Caroline Handsaker 360-571-0422 lonniehandsaker@msn.net Club Meeting Place Grace Baptist Church, 200 SE 76th Ave, Portland Oregon 2 blocks north of Stark on 76th 7:00 pm Club Dues are due January 1st and expire December 31st of each year. New Member Dues Individual $30.00 per year Hard copy of newsletter +$15.00 Renewable Dues Individual $25.00 per year Hard copy of newsletter +$15.00 Lifetime Member $250.00 Hard copy of newsletter +$15.00 per year for lifetime member Make all checks payable to: Lower Columbia Walleye Club, Inc., PO Box 30454, Portland, OR 97294 http://www.lowercolumbiawalleyeclub.com Our Members are our greatest asset to the Chapter. We welcome visitors to join the Lower Columbia Walleye Club. The very best batter mix on the market, You will Love it! 6
Group photo of those that went to Boardman. Group enjoying happy hour. Boardman picnic. 7
Rich Ribar with a very nice 11.0 pound walleyecaught at Bordman, Oregon on the weekend of June 17 & 18. Cogratulations Rich! 503-771-2341 www.crowesbait.com The trick is Always Use Fresh Bait. Crowes Bait provides the freshest bait on the mar- Nightcrawler Worms 1 dozen per cup Nightcrawler Worms 2 dozen per cup Nightcrawler Worms 500 per box Meal Worms 35 per cup Meal Worms 200 per box 8
June 17 & 18 Fish Out at Boardman Saturday's weather was sunny, warm and calm. The fishing was great with everyone catching walleye. Saturday night Lonnie and Caroline hosted a Hawaiian pot luck picnic at there camp site, there was about 22 people attending. The food was great. A special thanks to Caroline and Lonnie for putting it together. Sunday started out a little windy, most boats went out and the water calmed down by 11 am. Another great day of fishing. Boats on Saturday Boat 1 Frank Bryan and Lyle Amundson Boat 2 Lonnie & Caroline Handsaker and Rich Ribar Boat 3 Jerry & Harriet Haase Boat 4 John Wagner Jr and George & Louise Moudy Boat 5 Don Bonstein Boat 6 Jon & Nicky Murahashi and Chris Seward Boat 7 Jim & Shereen Gurtisen Boat 8 Monroe & Pat Sherman Boat 9 Neil Jenkins Boat 10 Roger Wienke Boat 11 David Dickey Boats on Sunday Boat 1 Frank Bryan and Lyle Amundson Boat 2 Lonnie & Caroline Handsaker and Rich Ribar Boat 3 Jerry & Harriet Haase and John Kirkelie Boat 4 John Wagner Jr and George & Louise Moudy Boat 5 Don Bonstein Boat 6 Jon & Nicky Murahashi Boat 7 Jim & Shereen Gurtisen Boat 8 Monroe & Pat Sherman Boat 9 Neil Jenkins Boat 10 Roger Wienke Boat 11 David Dickey Boat 12 Rick & Gjug Golden 9
Spin Drift Walleye rigs by Macks Lure These are fantastic for Walleye. Super Slow Death rigs for Walleye by Macks Lure These also work very well for walleye Pacific Power Boats, Inc. Lund dealer 2900 NE Marine Dr Portland, OR 97211 (503) 288-5003 Ask for Troy Ford 10